Amare Stoudemire played the best basketball of his career when he had Steve Nash setting him up for midrange opportunities and big dunks.

Things have not been the same in New York, where the offense is based more on Carmelo Anthony isolations and kick-outs to open shooters. Jason Kidd hopes to change that.

Kidd, an 18-year veteran, was added this offseason as part of a point guard trio that includes Raymond Felton and Argentine Pablo Prigioni. Those additions were made when the Knicks decided to let Jeremy Lin leave to the Houston Rockets.

At this stage of his career, Kidd, 39, who has always been a pass-first player, simply wants to facilitate.

“With Amare, I hope I can be like a Nash to be able to get him the ball where he likes it to be successful,” Kidd told NBA.com in an interview. “Make it where he doesn’t have to work as hard, easy layups, catch and shoot where he likes it.”

Stoudemire’s best scoring numbers in New York came in 2010-11, his first season with the Knicks. He scored 25.3 points per game, but that was mostly a result of an increase to 19 shot attempts a night.

With Anthony in the fold last season, though, those numbers dropped to 17.5 points per game on 13.9 attempts as Stoudemire struggled to find his way in the offense. Meanwhile, Anthony took 18.6 shots for 22.6 points—the lowest scoring output since his second NBA season.

Kidd hopes to make sure Anthony and Stoudemire can co-exist without any player having to take a backseat. Both forwards like to operate around the free-throw line extended, and Anthony ended up in that position most often because he can create his own shot.

In an ideal offense, Kidd would like for Anthony to use his scoring ability in a more efficient way, with fewer dribbles and forced shots.

“Melo is one of the top five players in the world,” Kidd said. “For me, it’s to get him touches that put the ball in the basket, so he doesn’t have to work so hard. He’s a guy that understands how to play and also understands how to win.”